It's been an interesting week, though sometime frustrating. Life on
the road can be that way with new adventures and also some setbacks, at
any turn on the map.
Tuesday, Feb. 17 - We had Little House ready for service at 7:30 A.M. Unfortunately,
we were told no sewer clean out while in the work bay. A call to
the septic company ended up with a cancellation since they
couldn't get here before Thursday. After 2 weeks of "camping" at the Cummins Power South center in
Orlando, they finished up our repair job and sent us on our way
Tuesday at closing time. We took off for the Florida panhandle with the
first stop scheduled to be only 20 miles west of Orlando, in a KOA
in Apopka. On the way there a dash board idiot light showed "DPF
Regen". The Diesel Particulate Filter is part of the emissions
suppression system - the diesel equivalent of a catalytic converter
but about 4 times the size. The alarm simply means that the DPF
needs "regeneration" which occurs automatically. The process burns
diesel fuel in the filter to burn the particulates out of the filter
by and takes roughly 45 minutes. We got to the campground before
it finished so we let the coach run for a while - but it never did
finish. Checking documentation it indicated that it would resume
automatically when we hit the road again.
Wednesday, Feb. 18 - We hit the road again late Wednesday morning to head to the panhandle
for some previously scheduled business appointments, but after a few
miles the alarm went to the second level which basically says you
need to complete a regeneration within the next hour or so. Almost
immediately we also got a yellow "Check Engine" idiot light.
Checking documentation again Hank found that if you are not able to
load the engine (we were on local roads) you should do a
"stationary regeneration". He called the Cummins shop and they
agreed that was what was needed - basically you park, set the brake,
put the transmission in neutral, and the process starts
automatically - indicated by an significant increase in engine RPM.
But that didn't happen!
Time for a call to the main Cummins Support center which resulted in
verification that it needed to go back to the shop - and they
"suggested" that the shop did not do all that they should have when
they replaced the turbo. They said it was safe to drive the short
15 miles back unless the reg "STOP ENGINE" idiot light came on - in
which case we should pull off the road and shut down ASAP. And of
course the engine also may go into a reduced power state (sometimes
called "limp mode") where you can only muster about 5 mph. Luckily
that never happened but there was a definite lack of power which
felt like the turbo was not working again.
Back at the shop at about 2 P.M., we were told they could not
possibly even look at it until Wednesday. After some "warm"
discussion they agreed to bring someone in early (6:30) on Thursday to look at the problem.
Thursday, Feb. 19 - The technician arrived about 7 A.M. and hooked his test set up
and read the codes - then returned to the building. About 8:00 we were told that the turbo actuator also needed to be replaced and the
warranty company had already been called. We had heard from other
sources that Cummins recommends (but warranty companies disagree)
that if a turbo is replaced the actuator should be replaced at the
same time because it is likely to fail in short order. The tech
working on our coach had also told Hank this happens about 20% of the
time so it was what he expected before even reading the codes.
Due to our tight schedule, Hank called the warranty company to ask them
to call me as soon as possible and let us know if it could be added
to the work already done, and if an inspection would be required
(which could easily add a days delay). He was informed that they can
not call the customer to provide any information - they only report
their decisions to the service department. He asked if they had any
idea when that might be they said claims were reviewed in the order
in which they were received. He asked again if they had any idea
when that might be and was told it could take up to 24 hours to
review a claim.
We have business requiring us to be in Navarre, FL early Saturday
morning and have several other appointments along the Gulf Coast
over the next few days. So we decided to leave Little House at
Cummins and drive to Miramar Beach in the car . After about 7 hours on
the road, we arrived at the Candlewood Suites,
a very nice extended-stay hotel. This is the first time we have stayed
in a motel
for at least 5 years. (Thanks to the Sky Med Travel Club for getting
us a great rate) We have a non-smoking studio suite with kitchen area
so we're not exactly 'roughing it', but we certainly miss being in our
home. It's hard to remember what to pack when you always have everything
you need with you!
Friday, February 19 - Good news
started our day! The warranty company agreed to pay for the claim minus
our $200 deductible with no inspection required, and Cummins will have
Little House ready to roll when we return there the middle of next
week. So life continues to be good with a few changes in our plans.
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